Hello guys! I know it’s been awhile but I’m back. I am going to blog in a few days about my oldest turning 9, latest dramas with the middle and of course all of the crazy antics with the little. I’ll just leave you with these three things, broken iPad, knives and potty training. I just haven’t been in the right mindset to write about my little devils angels.

But I did want to share with you guys about the newest Kwik Stix product from The Pencil Grip. I know that you have read about them on my blog before back in my original Kwik Stix Review. If you missed it, click here to read about the original product. They also took part in my 1st Holiday Gift Giveaway. Well this time I can say that I love them even more. In my original review I mentioned that the only downside was that they needed to be a little thinner. The older kids had trouble staying in the lines when painting. Well, they listened to me (ok, I am sure that it was already in the works when I did my review, but I am going to take credit for it. Kidding).

Check out the latest Thin Stix.

Sorry that I didn’t snap clearer pics of the packaging but Owen was grabbing them out of my hand and ripped open the box! See here’s the proof

Once again I just hand Owen some paper and his “paints” and he goes to town. They are non-toxic and the paint dries so quickly I don’t have to worry about messes. I can actually get a few things done while he’s painting me beautiful pictures of circles. I don’t have to help him because he’s a pro at using them now. He can uncap them, paint and then clean up. But I did just discover that he did a little art project off the paper and onto my kitchen table. Thankfully these Thin Kwik Stix are so awesome that it came off very easily (even after sitting for a few days).

They work on paper, wood, cardboard and more. This time we tested them out the wood! My older boys had to design and paint their pinewood derby cars for cub scouts. Well Owen was so excited that he wanted in on it too. Now this was the morning of the race and we didn’t have time to cut his car, so he just painted his block of wood. We installed the wheels and he was able to race as a sibling in the derby. Unfortunately his Trolls car didn’t place. Ha! But we painted it and within minutes it was dry and ready to go. The boy loved his car. He still takes it to bed every night. And the best part, the paint has not rubbed off at all onto any of his bedding! I mean how cute is his car! And it was all done using his Thin Kwik Stix.

Once again I cannot say anything bad about this wonderful paint from Kwik Stix. They now have a large variety of Kwik Stix. You can find the original ones, the thin ones, you can also order them in neon or metallic colors. They have small starter sets and then larger sets as well. Go ahead and order them, you will love them. As always they are available on their website The Pencil Grip or on Amazon. If you have young ones in the house that love to paint but you hate the bowls of water, the dripping messes, etc. then I definitely recommend Kwik Stix. We cannot get enough of them in our house. They are non-toxic, convenient and so easy to use. Just ask Owen!!!!

Okay folks, the time has come for my very first holiday gift guide and giveaway. I have done product reviews and giveaways in the past but nothing ever like this. This is huge! I have so many awesome things that I can’t wait to share with you. No I wasn’t paid to do any of this. I am doing this because I love all of you and I love the products that I am sharing with you. Yes, some of them I was asked to review and blog about but I am only sharing the ones that I love and would use even if I wasn’t asked to write a review in the past. I am picky about which products I review and I only pick ones that I think will appeal to my readers and their families. After checking out all of these awesome items, make sure that you enter the contest below. There are a few free entries and a ton of other ones that you may need to work for. But it’s worth it. Whoever wins, will get something from every vendor or company on this list! Whether it’s an actual product, a discount code or a code for a freebie. I’m just giving you some ideas on gifts for you family, friends, teachers and anyone else that you give to during Christmas, Hanukkah, birthdays or any other holiday.

First up is something that is for the adults on my page. Wine glasses! You guys all know by now that I love my wine. I love drinking out of cute glasses too. One day I was searching Etsy for teacher gifts and found Kelly, the owner of MADPainterVA. She has been my source of wine glasses for over a year now. I have purchased quite a few glasses for the kids teachers (hey I figure that if they have to teach one of my kids then they must need wine). I have purchased special ones for my friends and I have even ordered a special University of Delaware one for myself. MADPainterVA has a ton to pick from on her Etsy page, but I have sent Kelly images (like my UD glass) and she just whips it up and within 2-3 weeks its on my doorstep. I also love that they are HUGE glasses, not tiny little sample ones. Here are some pictures of a few that I have ordered from her in the past. Oh and for all of you LuLaRoe lovers she has a glass for you too. MADPainterVA offers a ton of personalized, hand painted glassware, ornaments and more. Check out MADPainterVA now! You can find the perfect gift for almost everyone on your list. Oh and while typing this up I just noticed that she has Five Nights at Freddy’s ornaments! I might have to go order a few for the boys now since they are obsessed!

Next up is Illumibowl, the motion-activated toilet night light. Yes, I know it sounds funny but trust me it is pretty cool and becoming a pretty popular item.

I love this product, especially since I live in a house of all boys. The Illumibowl was featured on Shark Tank recently and has become a huge hit. I have a sleepwalker (or a sleep pee’er is that even a word?). He likes to wake up and hit the bathroom in the middle of the night. The problem is, he never hits the bowl. But leaving the light on is a huge pain for the other kids (and my husband hates when lights are left on). So here comes the Illumibowl. You connect it to the side of your toilet and set the color feature (you pick one color or you can have it rotate) and when it senses motion in the bathroom, it turns on. The bowl now glows at night so the wonderful men/boys in your life can aim a little better at 3am. It’s a huge hit and I love their newer model (here’s my review from the last model: Illumibowl Review). The new model attaches to the bowl a little easier and will stay in place better. Check out their video from their time on Shark Tank.

You can find the Illumibowl at their website Illumibowl.com, Amazon.com, Bed, Bath and Beyond and Walmart. For my wonderful readers, in case you don’t win, you can still get a great deal on the Illumibowl. Click here to order your own and use the discount code IRISHMAMA for a great deal.

Another product that I have picked for you guys is called Kwik Stix.

Sean loved these when I reviewed them awhile back (Kwik Stix Review). He loved painting but I hated the mess. But these are different. There’s no water, no paint brushes, just a clean Kwik Stix. So now there’s no mess and they dry pretty darn quickly.

Now that I have Owen in the painting stage, I was excited to pull these back out of my craft closet. He loves them and I enjoy that there’s NO MESS!!! Since I did my last review on Kwik Stix, they have come out with some new products and you can purchase them in Target. I mean I know that we are all there a few times a week (don’t deny it, I run into you guys all of the time). These are a perfect as a stocking stuffer or just for your every day crafts. Kwik Stix is giving our lucky winner two items. The winner will receive a 6 pack of Metalix colors and a 6 pack of basic colors. But remember you can find them online here, or at your local Target.

One of my favorite things to do around the holidays is decorate. I love the way that my house feels when it’s clean and decorated for Christmas. It makes my house feel like a nice cozy home.

I always buy garland and wreaths from Target or craft stores but I never have bought a real wreath. Last year I received one from Jen’s Wreathsand I loved it.

The smell of this wreath was wonderful. It was so pretty and delivered in a wonderful box so it wasn’t smushed at all. You can read my review from last year here (Jen’s Wreaths) She sells wreaths, swags, centerpieces and the most adorable candy cane shaped wreaths too! And they are delivered right to your door in time for the holidays. I just ordered my traditional wreath the other day. I can’t wait until it arrives! My front door looks naked without it. One lucky winner will receive both items below. A gorgeous holiday swag as well as the traditional wreath. You can always head on over to her website and order any style today. Feel free to use her current promo code BLACKFRIDAY for 10% off plus free shipping

When Owen started eating solids I knew that I wanted him to have real food! But I didn’t have time to make my own. Luckily around the time he was ready to eat, Beech-Nut came out with their 100% Natural Baby Food. They had wonderful flavors that weren’t just the gross combos that other baby food companies made. These were actually enjoyable and Owen loved them. Plus they were so healthy for him. You can read all about their original products on my previous review here (Beech-Nut Review)

Now Beech-Nut is selling Coldpurée pouches. It’s a new line of products available in select stores around the country.

Beech-Nut is always innovating with the goal to make parents’ lives easier, so with convenience in mind, Beech-Nut’s nutritious food for babies is now hands-free. They still use the same unique cooking method as their Naturals and Organic jars – which they call the coldpuree method so you know that you are getting the exact same healthy food. One lucky winner will receive the four pack pictured above! I was tempted to open them up for Owen, since they are perfect snacks for when we are on the go (aka at Target) but don’t worry, I saved them for you guys!

Last but certainly not least is a new product from Auro Yoga.

They sell a huge variety of yoga products from mats, to bags, clothing and a variety of other yoga accessories. Their latest product is their beach and swim towel.

I received one a few weeks ago but since it’s a little too chilly here in NJ I couldn’t test it out at the pool or the beach. But I did try it out after my showers. I absolutely love the over sized towel. This will be perfect at the beach for the kids. I can use it to dry off more than one kid or I can set up down on the sand and have two kids sit for their snacks. It’s huge! It’s made out of a very suber absorbent microfiber so you will dry off quickly.

You can find their products over at their website or on Amazon. Just make sure that you use my discount code 2016ERIN to receive 20% off today!

So are you ready for the giveaway guys. Here’s what one lucky winner will receive:

** Erin the Irish Mama was not compensated for these review, but I did receive free products to test out. All opinions are my own **

This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook. You understand that you are providing your information to the owner of this Facebook page and not to Facebook.

Okay maybe I should have titled this blog post “The Curse of the Cavity” (you will understand if you just keep reading). I swear my kids can never catch a break with health issues. Yes, I am sooooo thankful that it is small issues. I know that it could be much worse. Trust me, I pray every night that their issues are minor and not life threatening. But man poor Ben. How come one kid gets so much thrown on him? And why does it all have to happen to the kid that can’t handle anything medical?

Ben was born with speckled lentigenous nevis (what??). Basically it’s a cluster of moles/freckles that form within one large mole. Well his large mole just happens to take up 80% of his right arm. So instead of all of those moles forming in one small mole, they now form all over his arm. He’s great about it and never complains, it’s just a part of him. Right now it is all cosmetic but he has to get it checked yearly (oh wait now its every 6 months at his new doctor) to make sure nothing turns cancerous because you know it runs in the family (he can thank me for that one).

Here’s a picture. You can see how right above his hand the arm is darker all of the way up to slightly above his elbow. What you can’t see is that there’s about 100 freckles/moles in that space.

The kid also has a small cataract and vision issues and needs glasses. I was so worried about them but he looks so damn cute in glasses and I love them. He hates sports goggles but we are working on it. It’s been a process but I can’t imagine him without those cute specs on his face

Photo Credit: Photography by Jen Davis

Oh and did I mention that the kid also has epilepsy? Yeah throw that one in there too.

The poor kid just can’t catch a break.

We have been going to the dentist for years but he has never cooperated enough for a real cleaning. So after switching dentists last year I knew that if they didn’t change we would have to consider laughing gas just for a regular cleaning. Thankfully last year he did great and I thought that we were over the hump. I was wrong. Very, very wrong. I knew going to the dentist today was going to be rough. I noticed one of his molars was turning a shade of gray. Which is never a good sign.

Both boys had appointments today but I wasn’t worried about Sean. He has great teeth, but I guess that I should have been worried. Ben doesn’t do medical stuff so it was a struggle just to get through the cleaning and the sealants on the molars. I had to stay with him the entire time calming him down. Thankfully Sean didn’t need me and breezed right through the appointment. Once both boys were done and I finally talked to the dentist, I thought that I was about to pass out from the final report. 6 cavities between the two of them. Sean had 4 and Ben had 2. What the hell????? I’m the one that brushes their teeth so I feel like I’ve let them down and failed them. I never let them do it on their own because they are young and I don’t trust their brushing. Well one of them is horrible at it and the other isn’t too bad. Well I guess that I am bad at brushing their teeth too. Or it could be the candy? Or that they refuse to floss? But I feel like I need to take the blame this time around. Mom guilt 100%

So now I have to figure out how to get Ben into that dentist chair next week for his fillings. Mommy and Daddy are definitely spending the extra dough for some laughing gas for that one.

Oh and Sean with 4?? What? He has the cutest, tiniest and whitest teeth on earth. He’s a great brusher and he has so much space in between his teeth that I never expected cavities. But I guess those pesky new molars are collecting all of his food. Which is surprising to me since he barely eats because of his ADHD meds.

What a day. Thank goodness I have some wine left and my mom was here to help and to buy us all Chick-Fil-A after that bad report. After the appointments I just couldn’t concentrate because I felt horrible for them. Especially Ben because it’s just one more trauma that I have to put this kid through.

But like I said in the beginning it could be much worse and I am so thankful that it’s only a few cavities but man can the kid just catch a break please!!!!! Oh and because of our dental plan it’s going to cost a small fortune for these cavities. Add in the laughing gas and whew it’s overwhelming. I wonder if I can pay to get some of that gas too!!!??? Back when I was a kid I never had gas to get through cavities. I dealt with the needle. These kids have the life! Laughing gas and simple flouride treatments. They don’t even have to suffer through the duck mask of the fluoride treatments. It’s so much simpler these days.

So I guess that our future will be filled with floss, brushing 20 times a day and less sweets!!! Oh and I wonder what the dentist will have to say about this kids teeth next month. I’m afraid to find out. He’s the one with the sweet tooth.

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Vacation. The word sounds relaxing and exciting, right? When you think of vacation, you think of a warm beach, a crystal clear pool, a snowy ski slope and of course oceans of wine. Am I right?

As a kid I always remembered our vacations as a fun escape from school and fun with the family. It was a time to go somewhere fun and new and exciting. We always had great ones like Washington DC, Myrtle Beach, Skyline Drive, Disney, Williamsburg and Busch Gardens, and a million other ones in between. I guess that they were such a blast in my memory book because I was the kid and not the parent. I didn’t have to plan entertainment, plan for car rides, traffic, book hotels and figure out ways to pay for everything. Everything just always seemed to flow seamlessly as a kid. Now that we are adults and we have to plan these vacations with our own kids, vacations might as well be a four letter word. Because I have used a ton of them during the past few vacations. Vacations are tough.

When my husband and I start planning out our next vacation will be, we go into it with as much excitement as a kid waking up on Christmas morning. It’s fun trying to decide where we are going to blow our money each year. We used to take annual trips to Avalon, NJ but now we have been trying out a few new places. We have done Hershey Park, Rehoboth Beach and we were even going to attempt Disney. We had the trip 75% booked, but then we ended up buying a house and couldn’t do the trip. And as I look back I am probably happy that we didn’t go, who the hell wants to spend a 10 days in Disney with their kids?? Oh yeah, I guess a lot of people! We were definitely sad to give up the trip but we couldn’t pass up on upgrading to a new house.

This summer we did get to enjoy a few days in Lake George (with 2 out of 3 kids) and then Rehoboth Beach with all 3 boys. Lake George was awesome and so relaxing. Then spending a few days at Rehoboth Beach boardwalk with all of the cheap rides, arcades, the beach and the hotel pool was great. I always like to take pictures of our trip and post them online. But not everything I post is as pretty as it seems. Yes, of course I post the fun, sweet pictures, but we all know that vacations can be pure hell with kids — especially 3 boys! Does anyone else feel this way? Or is it just me? Why is vacationing with kids the most difficult thing in the world? I mean look at these sweet little faces from the summer, how could they cause so much trouble and drama?

What you don’t see in the pictures that I post (and what everyone in the world posts online) is that 4 minutes before this one of them was screaming about sunscreen in their eyes and the other one was fighting with his brother because he splashed him. It may look like we had a picture perfect trip, but trust me, we didn’t. That’s the thing with online social media. Everything seems perfect in everyone’s lives…. but it’s not. And that’s okay. I get it that no one wants to talk about the fighting that goes on before and after the perfect shot. But I don’t mind talking about it. Here’s our little story of our last vacation!

Lake George October 2016

The boys had a four day weekend from school and we thought that it would be a great time to go on another trip. Four days away sounded nice. Like I said when we booked it, we were happy and thrilled to get away. We decided that we loved Lake George so much this summer that we would go back again in the fall — with all three boys.

Ben missed it over the summer because, well to put it nicely, we all needed a break. He definitely needed a break from us and his brothers. Don’t get me wrong, mom guilt was with me the entire time we were away, but it was necessary and we all ended up having a great time. He wasn’t in 1/2 of our pictures because he wasn’t even with us for half of our trip. Like I said, vacation is not always fun and exciting. It’s just like life but in a very expensive location. Hey, he enjoyed time with his grandparents and we enjoyed some time with a little less fighting. It was a win-win situation. Would I do that again, probably not but at the time in our lives, we all needed to regroup.

Well as this fall mini vacation got closer, I was becoming very nervous for a variety of reasons. The main being that the boys had lost their iPads the week before for bad behavior and there was no way that we were going to cave and give them back. We had done that one too many times and this time we had to stick to our punishment. So this meant 5 hours in a car (each way) with three kids and no electronics. This mommy had to plan. So when did I plan their in car entertainment???? ummmm 11pm two nights before our trip. Thank goodness for some great ideas from friends and for Amazon same day delivery.

Well the day arrived, we were set to head up to Lake George! I was so sick to my stomach. Wasn’t vacation supposed to be exciting? Why was it such a hassle this time? But after we got on the road, something strange happened on the way up to New York – the kids were good. Sean read his book for almost three hours. And if you know this kid it’s not easy to get him to sit and read. He finally finished his very first chapter book! I was practically in tears. Owen watched some tv and then took a very long nap. And Ben worked on a Road Trip Journal and a few other mini activity books. He also spent a lot of time drawing pictures. It was strange but for almost 5 hours the car was silent. It was amazing. Of course I knew that this wouldn’t last the entire trip. So I sat there in silence and savored every moment of it.

A happy moment in the car vs. the moment his brother started to annoy him at the end of the trip by resting his feet up around his seat. See I can post the nice pictures vs. the reality.

We finally arrived at our hotel (which is awesome by the way – The Holiday Inn) and then all hell broke loose. There’s just something about hotels that makes kids lose their shit. It must be the beds that they can jump across. Or the fancy bath soaps, or maybe it’s the key cards that they all fight over using. Who the hell knows but whatever air they pump into the rooms makes these boys turn into wild animals. So after we unpacked and rested for a short time, we walked a bit around the hotel to show Ben all of the fun things. Then we hopped in the car and headed to dinner. This crew was hungry! We headed to one of our favorite spots in town Adirondack Pub and Brewery. They have great beers and great food. We have hit this spot several times over the past few trips to Lake George. The kids were pretty good at dinner, and we still enjoyed some good old fashioned entertainment (Mad Libs, Word Searches, etc). Thankfully the food was quick and we had a decent dinner! There was minimal fighting and we survived without the iPads. It was a Christmas miracle!

The next morning we woke up and went down to the hotel for breakfast. So we ordered our yummy buffet while the kids devoured pancakes and chocolate milk! We decided to spend the day walking around in downtown Lake George. There are tons of stores, arcades, restaurants, etc. It’s a bit touristy but it’s fun. Our first stop of course was for mommy at the winery. There’s a cute little tasting room for Adirondack Wineryright on the main street. Over the summer we stopped in there for a quick tasting about bought a few bottles of wine. This time around we found a front row parking spot so I got to run in without any children and do my sampling. Delish!!! After a few samples, I purchased a bunch of wine for vacation and to take home. If you are ever in Lake George, stop by the winery! The barrel aged chardonnay is my favorite!

So now I was happy and ready to take on the day with these clowns. Our next stop was the arcade. The boys were dying to go all morning long. So we finally strolled in and I knew right away that a meltdown from Ben was on the horizon. One of the prizes was a Five Nights at Freddy’s toy. Well it was at least 750 tickets and after all four of us playing for an hour we still weren’t close even if we combined our tickets. Ugh! Finally after 20 minutes of convincing him that he would never have enough tickets, he settled on candy. Yes we spent an hour in the arcade and at least $50 so he could buy $3 worth of candy! Fun times. But Sean picked out a few small things and was a happy camper. That kid is easy to please. It was a fun time. I was happy that I could play skee-ball and the boys were happy running around just throwing quarters into random games. I would have snapped pictures of the meltdown but I couldn’t get out my camera in between talking Ben down from his breakdown on why he just couldn’t play for more tickets.

After the arcade mommy and daddy needed some refreshments, so we stopped off at a nice little bar called the 163 Tap Room for a quick beer. It was nice to sit outside on the main street and have a cold glass of some IPA. The kids were being good at this point – mainly because Ben spent 45 minutes eating all of his candy (thankfully he shared some with his brother). After our beer we headed over to Adirondack Brewing for a late lunch. Probably not the smartest move after two of your kids just ate a ton of candy. But we were hungry.

This is where the second of the major meltdowns occurred. We sat outside since it wasn’t too crowded and I was hoping we could have another nice meal like our dinner the night before. I was wrong, very, very wrong. This is one of the meals where I never sat down, Owen wouldn’t sit in a chair, Sean wasn’t hungry and Ben was yelling because he didn’t have enough fries. I was crying of embarrassment. Let’s just say that the young couple that was seated next to us won’t be having kids anytime soon. I don’t know if they were just tired or having a meltdown from the sugar overload. So we scarfed down our delicious meals and I took off for the car. Back to the hotel so the kids could explore the hotel and pool again and to work off their wild behavior.

The hotel has so much to offer for kids – that’s why we decided to go back to this one instead of trying something new. We just spent an hour or so walking around playing on the playground, the putting green, basketball and shuffleboard. Ben even attempted chess. I think he was just trying to make patterns with the pieces but he was having fun outside!

After playing outside for awhile, we decided to go to the pool for a little bit before dinner. The boys were in heaven, they now had Sean’s new ball from the arcade to play with and thankfully they all got along. They made a friend or two in the hot tub, which quickly became their favorite spot. Even I got into the hot tub. It was outside and since it was in the 50s, it felt wonderful. I think Owen enjoyed it the most since it wasn’t as intimidating as the pool. The meltdowns stopped and we had a great time.

After the pool, we cleaned ourselves up for some dinner. Dinner didn’t go as smoothly tonight, but we survived. Thankfully the restaurant was dead (since we spent a lot of time swimming and had a late dinner) and we didn’t scare away too many people. That’s the thing about traveling with kids. No matter how much you have planned, no matter how much you spend or where you go, there will be meltdowns. It’s inevitable with three boys who don’t get along in the real world, so why would they get along on vacation. Dinner took a lot longer than expected and we had a few impatient kids. The massive amounts of question games and Mad Libs that we played while waiting just wasn’t enough. By the time dinner was over we were all ready for bed. But it was such a nice night and the fire pit was going so we tried to sit by it for a few minutes. Over the summer Joey, Sean, Owen and myself sat there for at least two hours. I think this time around we got 2 minutes. Owen was running all over the place and Joey and I just couldn’t relax and deal with chasing them around. Ben was screaming he wanted to go to bed, so off we went. It was pretty for the two minutes that we were there.

We all crashed that night and were ready for our next and final full day of vacation. Joey and I decided to drive down to Saratoga, which is only about a 30 minute drive away from the hotel. During the car ride and once we arrived, Ben was being very rude and had a horrible attitude about walking around town. We went into a nice toy store and he had a meltdown because he couldn’t get a book. I was going to buy it but Joey reminded me about his attitude that morning and we agreed it wasn’t right to reward him for his behavior. Well you can see what happened next. I spent the next 15 minutes trying to calm an out of control kid on the side of a gorgeous downtown main street while in front of a wine store!!!!! Why was it too early to drink???? AHHHHHH

After walking around for a bit we needed some lunch. And since Ben was hangry and only wanted pizza so of course we had to stop into a pizza shop to feed him. I knew if he didn’t get pizza the day would just go downhill, especially since we were headed into a nice restaurant for lunch. I mean look how happy the kid was now that he had a few slices of pizza.

The rest of us found a nice Mexican restaurant to enjoy our lunch and mommy finally got her glass of wine! AHHHHH The kids did well here (mainly because hangry Ben was full). He spent our lunch drawing pictures in his notebook.

On the ride back to Lake George, we decided to stop and visit this mountain drive that was right outside our hotel. It’s called Prospect Mountain and was a great spot to see gorgeous views of the lake. We were going to do it that morning but it was too foggy out. It was mid afternoon so the perfect time to check out this spot. Now of course we had the typical Callaway boy reactions – Sean was all into it and Ben complained. At Prospect Mountain, you can either hike the trail or drive up to the top and then walk the last 1/4 mile up the trail or road. We of course decided to drive up. We are not hikers, Joey’s legs and back are still killing him and were not dressed to hike. Oh and from what I have read it’s steep in a few spots and not recommended for kids. Especially our kids who can barely walk to the car without complaining how far away it is. The mountain is about 2030 feet above sea level and has the most gorgeous view of the bottom of Lake George. There are three lookout spots to park your car and then you park at the summit. We walked up the road for the last viewpoint. Whew! Just getting up that hill was a hike. But we made it to the top and it was worth it. Ben cried every step up the hill but he was in heaven when he saw the lookout viewer. Thank goodness I had a few quarters in my pocket to keep him entertained while we actually admired the view (and made sure that Owen didn’t walk off the cliff). Definitely worth a visit during the fall months.

After Prospect Mountain we hit the pool and hot tub one last time. You spend all of this money to go to a nice fun town and all the kids ever care about is the hotel pool. Oh well, I’ll take it. It’s one of the very few times where Sean and Ben get along so it was worth it.

This time Joey took the kids to the pool so I could have a few minutes of quiet in the hotel room. And by quiet, I mean drink two glasses of wine without having to entertain the kids.

Ahhhh just mommy and her wine which only lasted about 8 minutes until I was asked to bring Sean’s ball down to the pool! DOH!

Dinner that night was pure hell. The boys would not settle down. I thought that after a day walking around town, doing a mini hike and spending an hour in the pool that they would be a little tired! NOPE! Dinner was a disaster. We tried Mad Libs again but this time everyone had run out of adjectives. Well Joey and I had a few that we could use but probably not ones that were appropriate for the kids to hear. Owen again wouldn’t sit still. Next time no matter if the kids eat free or not, I might do room service! Worth the extra $15 in meals – haha!

I wanted to do the fire pit again but that lasted about 8 seconds. It was time to go back to the room again. After an episode of some kids show, they all fell asleep! FINALLY!

The next day it was time to head home. We went down for a quick breakfast – which wasn’t so bad this time around. The kids were happy to have their pancakes again and by this point we just wanted to get on the road. So we loaded up the car and took a short drive to the west side of the lake to check out the views and the drive. Then we jumped on that interstate and booked it home!

Vacationing with kids is so exhausting. Kids fight, people cry, someone doesn’t get their way but in the end, you do it all over again. You do it because you do have those few moments where everyone gets along, where the view is absolutely amazing or you find a restaurant that everyone enjoys. Or maybe you just drink enough wine to get through the trip! I guess in a way it’s just like childbirth…. it’s horrific at the time but you forget about all of the bad parts when you decide to have another child. So when Joey and I start planning our next vacation, I pray that we forget all about the horrible dinners, the fighting in the hotel room, the bratty behavior when God forbid I force a kid to walk 1/4 mile and I remember that one special moment, that was captured in one picture, that showed me why we do this to ourselves as parents…….

So a few years ago, I never expected that I would have a third boy in our family. The two that we had in hour house were already very complicated and adding a third was not on the top of my list. But God laughed and Owen joined our family. All 10 plus pounds of him.

This kid is an amazing little boy. He is stubborn, can work an ipad better than his brothers and makes us laugh all of the time. Some of the things that come out of his mouth would shock an old person, but he will follow up his crude remarks with a sly eye, a shitty grin and an arm cross. He knows exactly what he is doing. I can’t believe that he will be three in about 2 months. And I also can’t believe that two weeks ago I took him to his very first day of school. The little man headed off to pre-school in the 2 1/2 year program. He is going to the same school that the other two boys attended years ago and loved so much.

He was so excited and talked about it non-stop the week before school started. He is extremely attached to me so I knew that this was going to be a hard transition for him. I knew that there would be tears – him not me 🙂

We talked about his backpack, we talked about his teachers and on the first day, he walked into the school like he owned it. He ran right over to the train table and asked me to join him. But as soon as he realized that mommy wasn’t sticking around, the tears flowed. He was hysterical but since this is kid number 3, I knew that the best thing to do was to just give him a quick kiss and escape the room. His teacher scooped him up and I darted to my car. I was definitely sad, but I knew he would be okay. I spent two hours wondering if he was still crying or not. I figured if he was that I might have received a call from his teacher. At pickup time his teachers said that it took him awhile to come around. He wasn’t crying the entire time but he wasn’t happy either. Finally after recess he started to participate.

Day two was another day of tears. Joey came with me that morning and we did another quick drop off. Day three, the same thing but according to his teachers he stopped crying within 30 seconds.

Finally on week two (day 3) he had zero tears. He hung up his backpack, kissed me goodbye and then went off to play with his play dough. Ever since then he has been perfectly fine. It didn’t take that long at all for him to adjust to me leaving. He has some wonderful new classmates and two awesome teachers. I know that he is in good hands. I love getting artwork from him every day and I love the giant hug that I get when I walk into his classroom at pickup. He’s been there three weeks now and loves every minute of it.

Owen, my baby has officially grown up! I know that I should be sad, and don’t get me wrong, I am. I miss those special little moments where he would snuggle up with me but I also don’t mind the 2 and 1/2 hours, 3 days a week that I get to myself. But I do miss that stubborn little bugger!

So let’s talk about ADHD otherwise known as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. It is a very common thing these days and I’m sure they everyone knows someone that has it. Whether it’s your friends child, your child or even an adult friend. It may seem like something that is just another common thing but when you are in the midst of it, it can be scary, dangerous and very difficult to understand.

Well, I am here to say that we are a family that is in the midst of it all. Many parents choose to medicate and many choose not too. It is definitely a huge struggle as a parent on what to do. And with all of the mommy/parent shaming going on these days I have really held back about our struggle with Sean. I really wanted to share our story but dear God, I didn’t want the judgement and shaming from “friends” if we chose the medication route? Well I finally decided to say screw it and to share our story. I’m not ashamed of anything that we have done. We have done what works for our family and I could care less what anyone thinks. I have often held back on the blog because I was ripped to shreds last year for taking my kids into a family friendly brewery by a family member of mine. But I decided that I can’t hold back anymore. My life, my blog, my story. I want to share my stories with everyone. We all go through it. Whether we share it or not. This is my life. Whether you like it or not.

So here it goes….

From the moment Sean was born we knew that he was going to be an interesting and fun but difficult kid. He had some minor breathing issues when he was born that put him in the NICU for a few hours and then he had a bad case of jaundice for a few weeks. He was also a screamer and from the moment that he was born we used to joke that he was he a pterodactyl because he was so loud.

To this day the kid cannot talk without screaming. I think that’s how our family got to be so loud. We were never ones to yell or scream but once Sean came along our decibel levels greatly increased {sorry to our neighbors}. And after spending a week on vacation with him, I apologize to all of those sleeping in the hotel rooms surrounding us! At least he is cute.

When he started preschool, we knew that something was a little different. I tried not to compare kids, but Ben always understood things, potty trained like a champ and never gave us any trouble {boy times have changed with him}. Sean was the kid that would dart into traffic, open the front door to the house and go outside at any random moment. He would run away from us, destroy everything in the house and no matter how much I watched him, he found trouble. So we of course we alarmed all our doors, locked our cabinets and I kept that kid in a stroller as long as possible {oh crap, I just realized that Owen is even worse}. But we brushed things off. He was 3, this is what kids did. He wasn’t too much trouble in school but he still had some problems. But hey, it’s preschool what can you expect from a 3-4 year old. He was just different than what we were used too. Finally around 4, I had him tested to see if he qualified for any special classes through our school district. Nope, he was just a typical child but did show signs of ADHD, but at this age, you do nothing. You can’t tell at this age whether the kid had any real issues or if he was just being a kid. Deep down I knew something else was going on. But again, he’s just 4 years old. What can you do?

These past 3 years were challenging. Especially when you know that something is going on, but your child is so young there’s really nothing that you can do about it but survive and work with him the best that you can. You try to understand and not explode but it is so hard when you have a kid that can’t focus on one task for more than 30 seconds. When that child can’t even remember why he went upstairs, or what he walked 3 feet away to get from the kitchen. It was just continuing to build and build. We knew that he was struggling and therefore, we were struggling. We tried to understand because we have all been that way and shit the kid was only 3, then 4, and then 5. When he was in kindergarten I had him tested for ADHD and of course he showed signs of it again {just like in preschool} But since his teacher said that he was still doing well and he was only 5 we didn’t do anything, I prayed that maybe he was still just trying to come into his own. We just went into survival mode and at that time we weren’t ready to medicate him {plus he was still too young}. I asked his teacher if he should repeat kindergarten. He was almost 9 months to a year younger than his classmates. She said no.

He was having a great year in kindergarten but some safety issues started to appear at home — unsafe bike riding, running through parking lots, wandering off and a ton of other issues that are too nerve wracking to mention. So again we just dealt with it all the best that we could and wouldn’t let him out of our sight.

Then we knew……. safety issues were beginning to rear it’s ugly head, a busted eye for not paying attention on the ice, a busted lip for smacking into some kids head on the playground and then the broken wrist…. which is still too traumatic for me to talk about.

Here are a few pics of our traumas, busted eye, busted lip, broken wrist….. this were the major issues.

Well this year in 1st grade, his school work started to suffer. He kept getting in trouble for acting up and not paying attention. He struggled with reading and math. I knew it was time to test him again. He was off the charts for ADHD. And since he was so far behind in school and the safety issues were a huge concern, my husband and I made the difficult decision to use medication. We spent a long time talking to his doctor about various medications and side effects. We decided that for him to succeed in school and for his own safety that we would start him on Adderall. It was a capsule and I thought that he would swallow the pill, but he wouldn’t. We tried every which way to get him to take the capsule. I thought of all of my kids this would be the one that could handle the pill. NOPE. No biggie, we could sprinkle on applesauce. Yeah, that didn’t work well either. We tried chocolate icing, jello, pudding, smoothies, anything that the damn kid liked I tried to sprinkle in the medicine. It didn’t work one bit. It was a 45 minute fight every morning trying to get his medicine in him.

I cried a lot because I felt like it wasn’t worth the pain and suffering. What was I doing to my child? Why was I fighting to get this drug in him. I felt like a horrible mom. Should I risk the bad behavior in school and the running in traffic at home or should I fight him to get his medicine in him each morning. I chose the medicine of course. The safety issues were just too frightening for me.

But we fought every morning and somehow, someway we got him to take his medicine. And you know what? He started to excel in school. He became a new kid. Reading and writing finally clicked, he was paying attention and when his teacher came back from maternity leave, she barely recognized him. He was doing so well. I kept telling myself that the struggle each morning was worth it. The kicking and yelling, the screaming and crying was all worth it, but one day Joey and I decided that it wasn’t worth it. We needed something new. I couldn’t spend 45 minutes to an hour fighting him to take this medicine. I had two other kids that I had to feed and take care of. I just hated fighting with him to get this drug into his body. Yes, I knew that it was working but at what cost??? So we had to come up with a new plan.

So at his latest weight check appointment we decided to switch meds. It was a tough decision because I know that the first one worked and we found the correct dosage so quickly {which can be very difficult with ADHD kids}. How do I know that this new one will work? But on day one he begged to try it and loved it. Day two, same thing. It was amazing. We finally found one that he enjoyed taking but it still isn’t working as well. We still need to play around with the dosage because I don’t think it’s enough yet but we will get there {hopefully}. It’s hard now that he’s not in school and I don’t have feedback on his behavior from his teacher. But I know it’s going to be okay. I know that Sean is going to be okay. It’s all going to be okay.

I talk so much about how difficult Sean can be but let me tell you this…..Sean is one of the sweetest, cheerful, thoughtful and emotional kids on earth. He will cry over the smallest thing but he will take care of you whenever you need him too. I would do anything for him. I never thought that I would medicate him but honestly it’s been the best for him. I love him so much and I see now that this has helped him out so much. I love that kid to the moon and back. I would give my life for his {as I would for any of my kids}. It’s just a struggle as parents on what you need to do. You constantly second guess every decision, every fight, every doctors appointment.

In the long run I know that this is what’s best for Sean. He is finally reading like a champ — and loves it. He’s no longer crying over reading. Just the other night I sent him to his room for bed. He was bored and not tired. 45 minutes later he walked downstairs and told me that he read 5 books and that they were awesome. That right there showed me that my husband and I made the right decision!

I have talked to so many parents who have medicated their children. It shouldn’t be something that we have to hide in a secret moms club. Just like all of the parent shaming going on these days, we have to stick together. Each of us would die for our kids to have a better, safer, healthier life. So if medication is something that is going to keep my son learning, excelling and staying safe then I sure as hell am going to give it a try! Don’t judge, just pat my husband and I on the back and say ” you are doing great with your kids”. That’s all any parent ever wants to hear. Trust me, no one wants to hear “oh your kids on ADHD meds”. We struggle enough we don’t need any backlash from anyone.

Feel free to share your stories with me on my FB page or here in the comments section. We are new {only 7 months in with the medicine route} and could use all of your suggestions, stories, etc.

I am 100% in complete denial that summer break starts tomorrow at 1:30pm. I don’t think that there is enough wine in New Jersey to get me through this summer. This will probably be the hardest summer home with the boys yet. I really do want to be that mom that enjoys having my kids around all summer, I miss them when they are at school but when all three of them are home together, it’s a nightmare. I have 3 little minions who can entertain me and show me all of the joys of summertime that I have long forgotten but unfortunately, that’s not what happens in our house. I love them all to death, I would give my life for theirs, but man, summer is hard! But we are going to try our best to have one awesome summer….just as long as the boys cooperate!

Sidenote…. now that school is ending, everything that my kids could possibly hoard at school has been sent home in their backpacks over the past week. I have this endless pile of papers to go through. Time to reduce and recycle their gorgeous math worksheets. I have been pretty good about trashing things this year but they just quadrupled my pile of papers. This is my project for the first week of summer vacation.

The past few weeks have really been rough for us. Joey has been dealing with a serious leg injury preventing him from doing a lot of things. He has been resting that leg as much as possible. The boys have also been giving us a hard time, we are at our breaking point with the oldest boys and I have never had so much anxiety about spending a summer with all three of them. I really want to be able to do fun and exciting things with the kids but when all they do is act up, I refuse to reward them. I attempt one or two things and if they misbehave then I just want to skip out on the rest of the fun. It’s a nightmare. Why should we even bother. One of these days I hope that they realize all of the fun things that we could have been doing if they just stopped fighting and acting up. One on one they are awesome and fun. But put them together and it’s mayhem. I mean these boys got into a huge fight at the local Veterans Cemetery minutes before they placed flags on all of the graves. Yes ladies and gentlemen, those are my kids. It’s embarrassing and I can’t control them so that’s why I struggle taking all of the boys somewhere by myself. It’s hard even when Joey is with us, I can’t imagine all by myself. I give so much credit to those parents that venture out with all of their kids. It takes a village but some days even the village throws up the white flag.

Even tonight at Ben’s basketball evaluations, it was nonstop fighting. The car ride over was a nightmare, then it rained and we were moved to another court, more fighting. Then when we finally get there they are fighting and punching and kicking right up until Ben got called onto the court. It’s NEVERENDING!!!!!!!

Now Owen, let’s talk about that little minion. He’s cute but don’t be fooled by that adorable face and his cute, kind words.

We will all be sitting outside on the deck or playing basketball and Owen will catch my eye, give me a smirk and then take off. And when he takes of he doesn’t stop or look. This kid is going to give me a heart attack. Everyone always laughs that I still keep him in his stroller, but I have a valid reason for it. It’s not to make my life easier, it’s to keep him safe. But every time I chase after him, the other boys freak out. Just last week, Owen took off up the sidewalk. He was on his big wheel so I caught him only 2 houses away. Well I ended up running into a neighbor and started chatting. 10 minutes later I walk back and Ben and Sean were in tears. They thought that I got kidnapped. So not only does Owen give me heart palpitations but he is causing his brothers to stress out as well.

I did finally sit down and book some camps for them {THANK GOD}. See my pile of medical forms, pickup authorizations, emergency contact forms, etc….

They both will go to cub scout camp and a local summer camp for a few weeks. Sean will also do two weeks of basketball camp and Ben is going to play in a nighttime basketball league {which I mentioned started tonight}. Oh and Sean needs a little help with math so he is doing the school’s summer math program. I am glad that he will be getting some extra help, he’s not as excited about that camp as I am. So Sean will be booked up pretty much the entire summer. Ben, not so much. I am also hoping and praying that since Sean will be gone a lot, that the fighting will be minimal but I also need a ton of new ideas to entertain Ben when he isn’t at camp. He really thinks that he is going to spend his entire summer on the iPad. NOPE, NOT HAPPENING!!!! He is not the easiest child on the planet so it will be a struggle but I plan on helping him with his handwriting, some math skills and some good old fashioned fun. Ben will regret not wanting to do more camps! But we do have a fun vacation planned, and I will squeeze in some bowling, slip and slides, swimming, play dates and sleepovers and some other fun activities. It won’t all be camps and work!

Mommy and daddy even have some fun plans this summer. We just saw Dave Matthew’s last week and are headed back again this weekend. I can’t wait to spend an evening out with Joey, our cousin and our friends. It should be a fun weekend. We also are going to see Coldplay in August. We saw them a long time ago at MSG in NYC and I absolutely loved their live show. I just hope that they are still as good as they were 12 or so years ago!

So tell me guys, what are your plans for your kids this summer. Tell me that I am not alone with my anxiety? I really do want to have fun with them, but they make it soooooo difficult???? The only thing that makes me super excited about summertime is that Big Brother starts tomorrow night!! WOO HOO!!!!

So I have had to accept that my little guy Owen, is no longer a baby. He is a bike riding, car driving, wall climbing crazy man. He has grown up so much since he turned two in December. Right now we are in that little phase called the terrible twos. He is quite the handful but he’s a cute handful. I could probably write a trilogy of books based on this kids 2 years of life.

Right now we are trying to phase out some of the sippy cups. He mastered them pretty quickly when he turned one. Well now I am in the phase of trying to get them off of the sippy cups and into a normal kids cup. But there’s always a transition stage there as well. This kid is the king of spilling drinks {and I thought that Sean took the top prize in that category}. Well straw cups were the next thing that I wanted him to master. He seems to have done pretty well with them but they don’t always travel well or stay cold long enough. But this Nuby No Spill Insulated Stainless Steel Flip-It Clik-it Cup seems to work well for Owen. He can easily flip open the lid to drink. He can even shut it himself so that his drink stays cold for several hours.

Everyone knows what happens if you misplace a sippy cup in your car for a few hours during the hot summer months. As a parent to three boys, you learn to never, ever open that cup to see what’s inside. If you do, you will regret it. That cup immediately goes into the trash. Well over the past few months of using this Nuby cup, I have left it in the car by accident one or two times and I didn’t have to ditch it. Thankfully I found it after just a few hours but amazingly the cup wasn’t stinky and the milk was still chilled. Thank goodness!

We even took it to Ben’s field day last week and his ice water was nice and cold the entire time. The ice cubes didn’t even melt!

Since the day that he outgrew it, I have been dying to break out Ben’s old Thomas the Tank Engine bed. Well the day finally came when Spider-Man {aka Owen} discovered that he could escape his crib. Oh crap! My days of plopping him in the crib at nap/bed time were over. He is now a free man. Free to roam his room (which is pretty pathetic right now since he has no furniture). He’s free to open his door and scream “all done” at 3am. No Owen, bedtime doesn’t end at 3am. You are not “done”.

It didn’t take long to put the bed together but banging plastic into plastic is not fun it never fits properly so after a few bad words and a few glasses of wine the bed was done.

He loved his bed so much the first night, that this is where he passed out. So adorable. I did carry him back into his bed. It was hard, I kind of wanted to leave him there because he looked so freaking cute, but I moved him. He did this a few nights in a row.

The first few nights in the toddler bed went well. The boys, especially Ben, were so excited to snuggle with him. He was sleeping through the night and even slept til 7:30 the first few mornings. I thought, damn this is going great. Then boom. It happened. He discovered the freedom. He realized that he had some control now. Let me tell you, the past month has sucked big time. He now wakes up at 3am and refuses to go back to bed. So I end up bringing him in our bed, which at this point usually occupies a husband and one or both of the other boys. Thank goodness we upgraded to a king sized bed last year.

Joey and I are both so physically exhausted. We are not used to him being up. It’s worse than the newborn stage. I have tried to let him cry it out but he usually knocks down the gate and then goes into his brothers room to play.

When he is sleeping, he manages to pack his bed with every single stuffed animal, train and toy that is left in his room. I don’t know how he sleeps in here, then he begs for me to snuggle. Yeah, mommy can’t fit in the bed with all that crap kid.

Now he is fighting his nap. He usually plays for 10 minutes then settles down. Not the past two weeks. He is good the first hour playing, yelling and then he knocks down the gate. He has broke free once or twice. Okay I lied, he has escaped about 74 times.

I swear, give me a newborn before a two year old. This kid is going to be the death of me. I forgot how hard this stage of parenting was. Give me the midnight and 4am feedings. At least then we all got to go back to sleep. God help me when I have to potty train.

Now the poor kid has pneumonia (two years in a row) so he is coughing and crying all night long. It’s so sad to see and we all need some sleep in this house. I just need a weekend where I can lay down on the couch or in my bed and catch up. Maybe in 15 years! At least he is cute!

Now I just need to find the kid some furniture so I can finally decorate his room. That’s what happens when you are the third kid, sorry Owen! I’ll get your socks and PJs out of the plastic bins one day before you turn 5 (doutbtful).

PS. I wrote this post about a month ago. Two weeks of trying to fix pics, two weeks of Owen and his pneumonia and double ear infection. One of these days I will put ME first and dedicate some time to writing about my kids but in the mean time I have take care of and love on them…… right…. that’s the point of being a mom and a parent. You put them first. Before your own dinner, before your own shower, before your own drink of water, before your next blog post, before your next concert, before your next girls breakfast, etc….. It’s hard but that’s what parenting is all about. I would love to write so much more (and trust me, I have the material), I just don’t have the time.. I swear if someone followed me around all day writing shit down, I would have three blogs and at least 17 books published by now!!!

Over the past few months I have been deep into the world of Cub Scouts. Both Sean and Ben are now scouts. Sean is a Tiger and Ben is a Wolf. I have also become a den leader for Sean’s den. I work with two other moms to prepare the schedule of achievements, activities and meetings. We have been meeting once a month as a den and then monthly all of the dens get together for awards and events.

It’s been a fun year so far. I really do enjoy all of the work that we’ve put into it. It’s been exciting and fun. We have learned about fire safety, healthy eating, working together as a team, playing games and just having fun. In the coming months we will be exploring a lot more outdoor stuff, plus rock climbing, banquets and a sleep in at the Liberty Science Center. It’s going to be great!

The one Cub Scout activity that did make me a bit nervous was the Pinewood Derby.

I knew very little about the Pinewood Derby and I didn’t have time to really research everything that goes into creating the right car. So I just tried to ignore it for as long as possible. It all seemed too overwhelming for me. I was going to pass this project along to Joey. In the end it was fun, very tiring, but it was also a great learning experience. We were amateurs going into it and now I think that we know what needs to be done for next year to be in competition for speed!

The boys decided on car designs {Minecraft of course}. Then Joey took the wood blocks to a car cutting day that our pack provides. We helped the boys paint and design their cars. It wasn’t easy and there were tears but they were finished in time for derby day! The wheels became our downfall as well as some weight issues, but both of the cars made it to the finish line. Even if they both were last place cars in each of their heats.

Here’s a pic of Sean’s Minecraft Creeper Car

During the the trophy ceremony both boys felt defeated and wanted to go home. I explained to them that even though they weren’t getting 1st place trophies they should still support their friends. Well Ben was very happy that we stayed. The kid walked away with a best in show trophy for his Wolf Den. It was for 3rd place but he didn’t care. He still won a trophy!

Here’s Ben holding up his Minecraft Steve car along with his trophy

Next year I feel that we will be better prepared with design, weights, themes, etc. Bring it on!